In the next article, I will try to avoid the bureaucratic parts of a business as much as possible and focus more on the branding and business plan part. In the end, it all comes down to how much you believe in your business model and how many hours you are willing to spend to build a business from scratch.

IMAGINE A BUSINESS FROM ZERO

a) When starting a business from scratch, it is very important to create a plan, taking into account a few aspects that will guide you through the ideation process. It is best to note the following steps:

• The first step is fun. Try to think about who you are and what your business will offer.
• What makes you different from others? Try to prospect the market well.
• What do you have to offer? Want to solve a problem? Need one? Do you want to create something atypical?
• Who do you want to sell to? Think about exactly what kind of customers you want to have, possibly their social status and whether they are male or female.

Do not rush to answer the above questions, think about them carefully. Everything starts with them.

b) Try to draw a mind map on paper and you will have a broader vision of the future business. Creating a mind map is not that hard. Start with the core business and then draw arrows with different ideas about your new business in 2020. You have no limitations, you can add symbols or numbers, explore freely. If you don’t like the idea of paper, you can do this on your computer.

Personally, I now use this method to write down what I discuss in a meeting, for new ideas, and this way I help my friends and colleagues develop their ideas.

c) Try to understand what your customers will be like and make a map with them. This is called the “empathy map” and was originally created by Dave Gray and you can learn more about empathic design here. Don’t worry, you may find some gaps in your empathic map. It’s not a problem, you will probably have a feeling of failure, but failure happens. Through failures you will reach your goal.

START CREATING A BUSINESS PLAN

a) Set the key points. Now it’s time to draw up a business plan, it will be more specific and the great news is that much of what you worked on in the idea phase will be helpful here.

• What are the qualities of your services/products that you would like customers to pay for?
• Research the market and find out if the products or services offered are in demand.
• Identify potential customers and learn more about their behaviors and activities.
• Learn from your competitors and improve your offering.
• Think about how future trends may affect your offering. (learn more here about Web Design Trends)
• How do you get new customers? From social media, press, festivals, digital agency services?
• Do you want to sell your product/service online or offline? Cash payment or credit card?
• Do you need a partner or a team? For outsourcing or delivery.I know it’s not easy to answer all these questions, but you can get help from friends, family or a specialist agency to guide you through the process.

b) Try to make a Business Canvas Model. BMC is a strategic management and startup template for new business development or documenting existing business models. With a BMC you can perform an in-depth analysis, but it will never be 100% complete because it is an evolving document that can be updated as your business grows or changes. If you want to know more about BMC’s you can google them or search YouTube, you will find many tutorials.

ANALYZE THE MARKET

a) You can opt for SWOT analysis.. This technique is used to help an individual or organization identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats related to business competition or project planning.

• Strengths: the characteristics of the business or project that give it an advantage over others.
• Weaknesses: Business characteristics that place the business or project at a disadvantage compared to others.
• Opportunities: elements that the business or project could exploit to advantage.
• Threats: Items that could cause problems for the business or project.

Not one of the “coolest” parts of starting your business from scratch, but still very important.

b) Create the Competitor Analysis Sheet according to the following standards:

• Price
• Product or service
• Location
• Social media presence
• How they look or feel
• How long have they been on the market?

VISION, MISSION AND VALUES

1. Create your own vision, imagine what the world will be like in 5 years. This way, you will know if your new business is successful in meeting its goals. Jack Ma from AliBaba said that 80% of new businesses fail because they lack vision 5-10 years ahead. People want quick results, but some decisions can have long-term or short-term repercussions.
2. Good mission statements are short and to the point. Tell everyone why your business exists. Reserve some time and talk to those close to you. It will probably take some time to choose the right words.
3. Make a list of your values and group them by similar words. This way you will have the best final values. Here are some examples: integrity, honesty, trust, passion, etc.

MARKETING, MARKETING, MARKETING

Now you are ready to spread the word through your marketing plan. Marketing is how you let new customers know that your business exists. But how can you do that? My advice would be to use a digital marketing agency. They are professionals, and they help different businesses from different niches to develop. Contact us here and let’s discuss how we can grow your business online.

The biggest advantage of working with a reputable agency is that they have developers, social media experts, graphic designers and important resources for promoting a business. But if you are just starting out and have a small marketing budget, you can do it yourself, the internet is full of tutorials and specialized courses. You can learn“Online Promotion Methods” here.

LONG TERM STRATEGIC PLAN

Break your new business plan down into smaller chunks that translate into reasonable steps. It’s like when you plant more seeds and expect them to bloom.

To start your strategic plan, you need three broad categories that are most important for how to start a business from scratch (from design, research, sales, service and support, human resources, etc.) After that, try to work with tasks and write down all the plans for your business. You can use real-time task managers for desktop and mobile, they are cool, easy to use and share with other colleagues. If you want to learn more about graphic design, read this article. It will definitely help you! Starting a business from scratch can be one of the most rewarding experiences a person can have.

FOLLOW YOUR PLAN AND DON’T IGNORE YOUR STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES

Try to revise and adjust the plan as much as you can. Try to prioritize it as much as possible and don’t forget to celebrate your success.

Building a business from scratch can be exhausting and the time you have is very short. Therefore, plan one day a week to work on your strategic goals. It is very important for your plan to constantly talk to someone every day about it, to analyze the progress, to adopt new ideas, etc. This person does not have to be a businessman, it could be a friend or even a family member.

BONUS: Learn how you can grow your business with a responsive website here.

I hope this article has given you a better approach on how to start a business from scratch and the steps you need to take to ensure you have a profitable business plan. If you fail, don’t worry, failure is just feedback and over time you will learn from your mistakes.

So, are you thinking about how to start a business from scratch? 🙂